With candidate pitches complete, Montgomery County voters head to polls Tuesday

NORRISTOWN — The candidates’ speeches are nearly completed and voters are preparing to head to the polls to cast ballots in Tuesday’s general election.

Municipal elections are held in odd-numbered years. Voters in Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties will select their county judges, school board members, municipal council members and even some row officers. Voters also will select a state Superior Court judge during Tuesday’s contests.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. All voters in line by 8 p.m. will be permitted to vote.

Typically, the largest crowds show up at the polls before work, between 7 and 9 a.m. and after work at 5 p.m., officials said. By law, polling places must stay open to accommodate voters in line by 8 p.m., whether they’re inside or outside the polling place.

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In Montgomery County, there are a total of 541,451 voters eligible to cast ballots, including 250,064 Democrats and 208,069 Republicans.

In Chester County, there are 331,888 voters eligible to cast ballots, including 147,628 Republicans and 125,508 Democrats, according to election officials.

In Berks County, there are a total of 244,453 registered voters eligible to cast ballots, including 116,778 Democrats and 91,744 Republicans, according to election statistics.

Year in and year out, election officials repeatedly remind voters that municipal elections are critically important because they impact issues people confront on a daily basis in their communities, things like trash collection and the education of their children.

However, during a similar election four years ago, only 24.6 percent of registered voters in Montgomery County cast ballots, according to county statistics. Comparatively, presidential elections in the county typically draw more than 70 percent of registered voters.

The countywide contest garnering the most attention in Montgomery County is the four-way race to fill two judicial seats on the 23-member bench. Two Democrats, Steven C. Tolliver Sr. of Cheltenham and Gail A. Weilheimer, of Abington, and two Republicans, Maureen C. Coggins of Upper Hanover and Sharon Giamporcaro of Lower Merion, are vying for the two, 10-year terms up for grabs.

Two seats on the Chester County Court bench are being sought by three people, Democrat Julia Malloy-Good, of West Whiteland, and Republicans Patrick Carmody, of Westtown, and Jeffrey Sommer, of Pocopson.

Chester County voters also are electing various row officers, including treasurer, coroner, clerk of courts and controller.

The contest for two available seats on the Berks County Court bench pits M. Theresa Johnson, Madelyn Fudeman and Eleni Dimitriou-Geishauser against one another. Johnson, of Brecknock Township, appears on both the Republican and Democratic ballots, having secured that right during the May primary. Fudeman, of Cumru Township, appears on the Republican ballot, while Geishauser, of Exeter, appears on the Democratic ballot.

Berks voters also are electing various county row officers.

Another closely-watched race in Pottstown is this year’s mayoral contest, which may seem familiar to those who voted four years ago, except in reverse. This time, Democrat Bonnie Heath is the incumbent and former mayor Republican Sharon Thomas, who Heath narrowly defeated four years ago, is running to reclaim the mayor’s post.

According to Montgomery County Voter Services, some voters will be casting ballots at new polling places, including in Pottstown Ward 6, which has moved from Rupert Elementary, 1230 South St., Pottstown, to Chesmont Building, 13 Armand Hammer Blvd., Pottstown, because Rupert Elementary is under construction.